From the highly publicized “Me Too” movement to advances in equal pay, 2018 has proven to be a progressive and eye-opening year with regards to proposed and enacted changes in employment and labor law. Some highlights over the past year include:

Equal Pay for Equal Work – Equal pay laws have become prevalent in states across the country, ensuring that both genders receive equal pay in the workplace. In an attempt to bridge the gap between genders to make certain there is pay equity for the same job, countless states have passed legislation that prohibits employers from asking applicants questions regarding salaries from previous employment, and from reviewing and filtering out applicants based on pay.

Predictive Scheduling – Many larger cities have enacted predictive scheduling, and in 2018 Oregon became the first state to pass statewide predictive scheduling regulations which applies to employers with more than 500 employees in hospitality, retail, and food services industries. Under this law, employers must provide new employees with a written, good faith estimate of their work schedule at the time of hire; maintain a voluntary standby list; must provide all employees with advance notice of work schedules; follow regulations regarding an employee’s right to rest between shifts; provide employees with the right to provide input into work schedules; and provide employees with compensation for employer-requested schedule changes given without advance notice.

Paid Sick Leave Laws – Following suit of cities who have implemented this practice, many states saw the implementation of similar laws that ensured all employees receive paid sick leave for a set number of hours worked (e.g., 1 hour of paid leave for every 30 or 40 hours worked). With states and employers tailoring these regulations to their own cultures and policies, this increasing trend is likely to continue to be highlighted in years to come.

Like many state and federal employment and labor law updates, the majority of these regulations resulted in updates to state and federal labor law posters. HRCentral provides this service to our clients and colleagues, so feel free to contact us to have a combined state and federal labor law poster ordered for your organization today!

While only some of the many changes that hit employers in 2018, there are countless updates that are slated to hit employers at the state and federal level in 2019. Follow along in our next post as we outline these biggest changes that are predicted to impact your organization, and how to adequately prepare.